Manzanar Fishing Club set for Oct. 30 video release

Thu January 03, 2013

Called "a terrific documentary" by The Seattle Times, "absorbing" by the Los Angeles Times, and "a window into something that still remains mysterious" b the San Francisco Chronicle, “The Manzanar Fishing Club” video release is set for Oct. 30. The DVD will be available immediately at the movie’s website, FearNoTrout.com, and soon via VOD.

The film chronicles the Japanese American internment from a unique perspective: through the eyes of those who slipped past the armed guards, barbed wire and searchlights to fish for trout in the surrounding waters of the Sierra Nevada.

The injustice of the internment has been well documented in books, television and film. Rather than focus on the confinement itself, “The Manzanar Fishing Club” spotlights real-life stories of freedom and the human spirit, dating back seven decades to when the first train loads of prisoners arrived at the remote military-style camp in eastern California.

Six years in the making, the film is the result of nearly 70 hours of interviews with surviving internees and their descendants, two MPs, two rangers from the Manzanar National Historical Site, the preeminent department of Fish and Game authority on the Eastern Sierra Fishery and Dr. Arthur Hansen, one of the leading authorities on the Japanese American internment.

"Coming off the most successful theatrical release ever for a documentary film about the internment, we're now able to bring the story to an even wider audience via digital delivery," writer-producer Richard Imamura said. "This has been a remarkable journey,” added director-producer Cory Shiozaki. "And it's a testament to the power of film to transform and delight."

A from Barbed Wire to Barbed Hooks LLC production, The Manzanar Fishing Club was directed by Cory Shiozaki from an original screenplay by Richard Imamura.

The producers are Cory Shiozaki, Richard Imamura, Lester Chung and John Gengl. The executive producer is Alan Sutton.